


No I Won't Give In, Cause Everyone I Love Is Here

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Car Accidents, Concussions, Cousin Incest, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Genderswap, Introspection, Major Character Injury, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Past Abuse, Permanent Injury, Polyamory, Recovery, Rescue, Threesome - F/M/M, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:53:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonelle's not seen her cousin Robb since they were fourteen and she moved to Gibraltar. In fact, she hadn't thought about him or his friend Theon in years.</p><p>Until a strange dream and a mysterious car wreck pulls her and her mother Lyanna back to Sheffield where family estrangements end up becoming more than she had ever bargained or hoped for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No I Won't Give In, Cause Everyone I Love Is Here

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit similar to "I Never Did Anything Out of the Blue" because I worked on them at the same time, yet this one has different themes and will end differently. 
> 
> Again, this is a pseudo version of Spain and Sheffield and for various reasons, Theon is an Orcadian. Lyanna ended up being military for reasons I'm STILL not sure of. Again, research was undertaken, and some mistakes are mine not on purpose and or stylistic choices. 
> 
> Proofed, but if mistakes appear they will be fixed later.
> 
> Title is from Tim Finn's "I Won't Give In."

Jonelle recalled later that she had been dreaming of Robb that day. More to the point, she had been dreaming of that time that they had gone to Skye for holidays when she had kissed him for the first time. It wasn’t the greatest kiss she had ever received. Robb’s lips had been dry and sticky and he had tasted strongly of orange creamsicles and was a tad too sweet.

They were both at that awkward in between stage of gangliness and babyfat rounded cheeks, their bodies in the middle of moving through childhood into adolescence. She had braces and a messy ponytail. Robb had the messy little boy version of his dad’s haircut and was wearing his dad’s too big Sheffield United jersey.

Yet, it was her first kiss and she had often recalled it whenever she had come to visit in the infrequent years after they had turned thirteen and her mother’s regiment was attached to the Gibraltar Military.  She had come to visit whenever her mother’s duties allowed her leave, but it hadn’t ever been the same as it had been that holiday in Skye.

They both had changed a whole lot. Robb had shot up and lost the babyfat and terrible haircut and had gotten cute enough to make Jonelle blink stupidly the first time they saw each other after two years. Jonelle had finally lost the braces and filled out to much more generous proportions than even her own mother or Sansa. Her hair had grown into long waves and she was strong from Rugby. It should have been natural that things should have gone further between them. She knew Robb had looked at her with the same appreciation she had shown him. He wasn’t that good at hiding how he felt as a child and he hadn’t improved in the time that they had been apart.

Nothing happened though. Maybe it was their parents moving things behind the scenes (Jonelle secretly suspected it was more her aunt than anyone else. _If_ things really were being manipulated) or maybe Robb wasn’t as savvy as she had thought he was. She’s sure that it’s not because he has a girlfriend. Arya is obnoxious enough to tell her all of the misdeeds of her siblings. She wouldn’t have missed such a juicy detail. It’s not until Robb takes her and Sansa on an outing that she figured out the problem.

Robb had grown into the typical boy pursuits and had gained a best friend. A smirking Scot from the Orkneys named Theon Greyjoy who looked at her as if she was competition for Robb’s affections. Despite the fact that Jonelle has similar pursuits as Theon and Robb, they don’t really make any effort to include her in their conversations of the Premier League or the Rugby worlds. They offered very little in the terms of schoolwork and tended to fall into insides jokes that even _Jeyne Poole_ was in on. Never before had Jonelle felt like an outsider in her own family.

She couldn’t say that she was sad to go back to Gibraltar after the summer.

Her feelings were even more confused when Robb sent her a box of her favourite candy from the UK and a postcard of Skye.

_“Write to me when you can. Sorry we didn't get to talk more like we used to. Hope you like these. Robb.”_

It was the closest to an apology he would ever send and he had, sporadically written. She hadn't put much stock into the postcards and emails they had exchanged and she hated that she saw them as signs of probabilities and possibilities. But she wouldn't ever voice them aloud. She had learned her lesson on expectations.

As hard as it was to put childhood memories away, Jonelle had to admit that they wouldn’t ever be as close as they had been on Skye again. It was better to just have basic contact with Robb. She still had a close relationship with Arya and Bran and Rickon and made sure to send postcards and other goodies more often than Robb. Jonelle knew that it was inevitable that it would happen. Maybe if she had stayed in Yorkshire, in England even, things would have gone differently between. Maybe even gone a different way.

It still hurt, despite the rationalizations behind it. Robb Stark was a dream, but he was her cousin and even as liberal as Lyanna Stark was, she doubted her mother would be happy about that. Or her aunt Catelyn, who had been a Tully and had contributed highly to Robb’s nearly perfect genetic makeup. Other than her cousin Arya, the rest of the Stark children all had their mother’s bright blue eyes and dark red hair. She had also done her best to raise them with their eyes looking towards London rather than Yorkshire as generations of Starks had been raised to do in the past.

It had brought all those feelings back as she had lain in her bed, trying to shake off the memory of the dream. Not to mention the sleepiness that always plagued her before weekend practice. She loved playing Rugby and enjoyed practices, but getting there on a Saturday was always hard. It was harder this morning, with the unexpected hit of nostalgia that the dream had brought.

She lay there for a few more minutes, scrubbing at her eyes as she lazily rolled out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed. Once she felt slightly more awake and less maudlin, she stood up and went to the bathroom.

“Suck it up, Stark.”

She told herself as she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

It sucked she never really got closer to her cousin. Jonelle was sure that they would have been awesome together, if the early closeness had been any indication. She may have even stayed in England if that had been the case. She would have liked that.

But she hadn’t and she had learned to swallow the disappointment and live her life. She had dated, lords knew that there gorgeous people in Gibraltar. She didn’t date as much as her peers, since she did have sports, schoolwork, and friends to occupy her time. Her mother didn’t expect her to be a sapper, but she also didn’t expect her to do nothing with her life either. The Starks were known for their academic prowess and Jonelle wasn’t about to be the first to tarnish that reputation.

Especially not when her cousin Sansa was doing that quite well on her own, much to her mother’s open contempt.

“All those brains and she chooses to waste them. On what, exactly? Robert’s psychotic whelp?”

Jonelle’s eyes had widened as she entered the kitchen. Their front door opened directly to it and she had come right on time to hear her mother say that to her friend Maege Mormont as they had sat around the small kitchen on a Saturday afternoon and drank some red wine from Andalusia they had gotten on a leave. Jonelle knew she hadn’t been meant to hear that by the deepening of the flush across her mother’s nose and cheeks, but she didn’t mind. It wasn’t as if she also got along with Sansa. Nor did she think highly of her cousin. Social media showed her a shallow little girl riding on her looks and expecting the world to award her for having the famous Tully beauty.

She also knew that her mother was blunt as all out when she was wine buzzed and with Maege. They were the only two women in their regiment, so they needed to blow off steam. It shouldn’t have mattered, but rugby practice was cut short and Jonelle needed to study for a chemistry exam on Monday. Jonelle just felt like she had come at a super awkward time and did her best to pretend that it was all right. As long as her mother didn’t go into her sexual exploits, things would be fine.

“You came earlier than expected.” Lyanna Stark drawled out when she saw her daughter moving towards the cupboards and getting herself a glass.

“Practice was cut short. Hey Maege. How’s Dacey?”

Jonelle replied, cutting the conversation short. She really didn’t want to have it out with her mother about her cousins. Not with Maege there and not when it was obvious she had interrupted.

“She’s good. Still playing Rugby in St. Andrews. She’s hoping you’ll choose it as your school.”

Lyanna growled at that and poured more wine out for herself and Maege.

“Unless she’s joining the corps, she’s going to the University of Sheffield. It’s tradition, Maege. Don’t try and corrupt my daughter with your Scottish ways.”

Jonelle and Maege exchanged a glance before Jonelle turned around and poured herself a glass of water. Her mother tended to be a bit odd about University and Jonelle guessed that it had to do with her own stint at the Royal School of Engineering and the subsequent meeting of Jonelle’s dad. Although Lyanna never regretted her daughter, she didn’t care to remember the man who had helped create her daughter. Despite the outcry, Lyanna had brazenly named her daughter a Stark. Jonelle didn’t even know what her father’s name was and she didn’t care to know. It wasn’t as if he really cared to stick around after she had come along anyways.

Either way, it wasn’t something that should have been on the radar just yet. Jonelle was only sixteen. Uni was still awhile away and she was sure that her Uncles wouldn’t care where she went. After all, Uncle Benjen had gone into the Royal Navy and Uncle Brendon had gotten his MBA in Manchester. Only Uncle Ned had followed Grandad Stark’s footsteps and stayed in Sheffield.

“Right. Well, I’ve still got a few years before that’s a pressing issue. So I’m just going to drink down my water, clean up and go study. Sorry to interrupt you two. Have fun.”

Lyanna laughed at that, making Maege smirk as Jonelle did exactly as she said she would do. Rinsing the glass out, she headed to the bathroom down the hall and took a long shower before heading to her room and getting dressed. She threw her Rugby gear in her hamper and pulled out her notes before she went to their little washing machine and shoved her laundry in.

She could hear her mother and Maege cackling and she grinned to herself. She made a mental note to text Ygritte once she had put in her time studying. It had been awhile since they had hung out. Maybe she’d be up for catching a movie and hanging out at the coffee shop near the base.

Humming to herself, Jonelle went back to her room and started to get her books and notes out. She had just gotten a pen when her phone blared out “The Immigrant Song”.

“Uncle Ned? Hi! It’s been awhile since I heard from you. How is everything in Sheffield?” Jonelle asked her uncle as she sat down at her desk and pulled out some felt tip pens and highlighters for her notes.

“Things could be better, Jonelle.”

Jonelle felt her cheeks getting hot and then cold at the sombre tone of her uncle’s voice. Although he wasn’t exactly the cheeriest of men, he usually didn’t sound as grave as he did at that moment.

“What happened?”

Uncle Ned sighed before he continued and Jonelle could picture him rubbing his forehead like he did whenever he had to say something he knew wasn’t going to go over well.

“Robb and Theon were in an accident and it’s not looking good. They both are in critical condition and the doctor’s aren’t optimistic. I’ve already called your uncles.”

Jonelle was glad that she was sitting down when she heard the news. Although there was so much distance between herself and Robb and no real relationship with Theon, she felt breathless and clutching at her chest as the shock of the news hit her. How could that happen to him? Robb was his father’s son and he was extremely cautious. Even though he was young, he wasn’t reckless. The idea of him having an accident was simply something that Jonelle was having a hard time accepting.

Not to mention the fact that her uncle was calling them home just in case Robb didn’t make it. Uncle Ned wasn’t a dramatic man. If he was calling them, then Robb and Theon were worse than just critical.

“Jonelle, can you get your mother? I need to talk to her.”

Jonelle wet her lips and forced herself to stand up. “Sure. She’s with Maege at the moment.”

Ned gave a sharp bark of laughter. He had known Maege back in the day.

“It’s a good thing that I didn’t try to call her just yet.”

Jonelle laughed hoarsely, the humour gone from the rough rasp of her laughter.

“Yeah. I think that was a good idea.”  Jonelle agreed, walking out of her room and into the kitchen that held only Lyanna, who was nursing a glass of water and staring out the window. Maege's spot held the same thing and the bottle of wine was sitting empty on the counter.

She looked at her daughter and immediately stood up, her face creased with concern.

“What's the matter?”

Jonelle held the mobile out wordlessly and Lyanna took it, her expression still one of puzzlement as she greeted the person on the other side.

“Ned? What's happening? No, she hasn't told me, but I can see on her that something's wrong! What? When?!”

Jonelle sat down numbly at the table as she listened to her mother and her uncle make plans.

~*~*~*~*~

Even though she was present for it, as was Maege just a few moments later, it was still a huge surprise to her when she landed in Robin Hood Airport with her mother wordlessly leading her towards a waiting Ned and Arya.

Lyanna only let go of her daughter to embrace her clearly upset brother, leaving Arya to do the same to Jonelle, who was silent and even more pale than usual.

“He's going to pull through, Jon. He's strong.” Arya murmured in her ear as she wrapped her up in a bone crushing hug.

“I hope so, Arya. I hope so.”

She forced herself to not cry and get over emotional over a boy who had no clue how much she would miss him if he were gone, but she knew she had failed when Aryan pulled away only long enough to hand her a tissue and embrace her again.

She had never been so glad then that her mother's attention was focused solely on Uncle Ned.

Uncle Ned, who seemed to be the strongest of the Stark siblings, crumbled in his sister's strong grip. Lyanna caught him and embraced him as tight as she dared. She didn't say anything to him. Just held him tightly until he had gathered enough strength to get himself together to face whatever what was coming next.

This interlude gave Jonelle enough time to get her shit together under Arya's quiet gaze. She might not have any actual interest in people (Jonelle was sure that Arya was aromantic at the least and asexual at the most) but she understood the torch that Jonelle was carrying for Rob. Arya might not have been cloyingly sympathetic as Sansa possibly could be, but she was unobtrusive and by the time they had pulled up to the hospital, Jonelle was as close to normal as she could have been after receiving the news three days earlier.

After a quick stop at the loo, they headed out to hospital, Lyanna insisting, since she knew that Ned and Jonelle were anxious to see what Robb and Theon's condition was. They were both critical, but stable. Despite the news that various procedures had gone well, Ned wasn't going to take any chances if things went south quickly.

“Which hospital are they are being treated?” Lyanna asked as they drove past a countryside that looked sort of familiar to both Jonelle and Lyanna, but not quite what they recalled from their past visits.

“NGH. Robb might get moved to London when it's deemed safe to do so. Theon might end up in Glasgow, but that's not set in stone. Neither his parents or his uncle have responded to any of our calls.”

Lyanna makes a small noise of surprise at that. “He's their family! He could die and they just...Leave him like that?”

Ned made a low noise of anger in his throat at that. “There's a reason why Theon's in Yorkshire and not in the Orkneys, Anna. He didn't say much to Robb, but the doctors confirmed what I suspected for years about Theon.”

Jonelle's eyes narrowed at that bit of news and filed it away for later. It would explain why Theon was so damned possessive of Robb. She caught her mother's eye in the rearview mirror and saw that her mother had reached the same conclusion. She also saw her mother's steely gaze soften and Jonelle gave her a small nod before turning to look at Arya, who bit her lip, but said nothing.

“Well, if and when they finally answer, they have to make the choice fast. Neither he nor Robb would benefit from being transferred to another hospital. They're better off here with us.”

Ned clamped his mouth shut and the rest of the drive was silent, no one speaking apart from niceties exchanged with the hospital staff as they made their way towards the ICU unit where Robb and Theon were.

Once they were standing outside of a glass walled room, the silence was broken by Ned.

“Theon's in here. Robb is next to him. Only one person at a time can visit and only for ten minutes. I'll let you have some time with them. We'll meet you outside of the unit. Come on, Arya.”

Arya gave Jonelle a sympathetic arm squeeze before quickly following behind her father.

“Go see Robb, Jon. I'll sit with Theon. Lord knows that he's probably not getting any visitors other than your uncle and Arya.”

Lyanna's mouth twisted unpleasantly then. “I'm sure Cat wouldn't spare the boy the time with her precious Robb laid up. Go and when the time is up, visit him. Even if he is drugged, it would do him some good to know that there is someone near who cares.”

Jonelle nodded and went to the room that held Robb, her blood pounding in her ears as she moved. She knew that her mother didn't hold her aunt in high regard and hid it. But Theon's story and Robb's injuries must have loosened that strong hold she kept upon them. Jonelle just hoped that Lyanna would be able to keep a tight rein on her emotions for however long they stayed there. They didn't need an all-out battle between them now.

Jonelle took a deep breath to steady her nerves and quickly slipped into the room. Robb's bed was a short distance from the door. Robb lay on the bed completely still. Tubes, wires were in him, making him look like he was tangled in a web of coloured and clear plastic lines. His hair was a sticky, tangled mess and a part of it was shaved off and a bandage was pressed on it, held only by a loop of gauze wound around his head. That side of his face was also heavily bruised and swollen and Jonelle couldn't help but to gently run her fingertips down his face.

He didn't stir and it wasn't a surprise to Jonelle. He must have been under heavy drugs, judging from the brace around his torso, the bandages that peeked out from it and the cast on his arm. If he had stirred, she wouldn't have minded, but she quickly pushed down that thought. He was injured! It wasn't a social visit and he could have died! She chided herself. _Could die still_ , her mind whispered to her. She didn't have problems pushing that thought down ruthlessly and instead touched his shoulder. It was warm, but not overly so and she bit her lip at the idea of him being cold and dead.

“Get yourself together, Jon.” She muttered to herself as she pulled back and forced herself to stop being such a wuss. Robb was hurt, but he was still here with them. That was something.

“You're a Stark, Jonelle. Get it together.”

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath of the stale hospital air and started to talk.

It wasn't much. Just what she had been up to, what major she was planning on studying and what universities would be the best for that. Her rugby team standings and the book she was reading. The usual kind of stuff that she had written in her emails and cards for him. She knew it was impersonal, but he seemed to enjoy it and had even asked her about recommendations when he wrote to her.

It was the safest course of action she could take at the time and it wasn't until she glanced up at the clock that she stopped talking about that stuff.

“I know that it's weird between us, but I do hope you pull through. I miss you and maybe after, things can be different. Get better Robb. We can't lose you. Hell, I can't lose you. So please.”

She didn't know she was going to do it until her hand clasped his unbroken one and she squeezed it, quickly pulling away and exiting the room, missing the faint twitch of Robb's hand.

~*~*~*~*~

“Theon, How's today treating you?” Lyanna greeted the hollow-eyed boy looking pitifully young in the hospital bed he was confined to. His thin body was hidden by an ill-fitting hospital gown that had slipped down his thin shoulder and barely covered the surgical bandaging around his chest. His breathing was a bit laboured, but better than the last time she had visited him. His colour too, even with the ugly black purple bruising on his face was much better than the grey pallor he had before. Theon had explained he had hit the dashboard, which explained the broken nose and jaw.

“No tests. Today.” Theon mumbled through his broken jaw. Lyanna winced at the barely intelligible words. Poor kid looked miserable and she couldn't blame him. Not only was he facing two months with his mouth wired shut, and a lifetime of a weakened immune system without a spleen; he was also in danger of losing his left leg. Both of his legs had been broken from the impact. But despite his right leg healing well with no complications after surgery to put plates and pins in it, his left leg was not improving. They were planning another surgery, but if that didn't work, Theon's leg was going to be amputated above the knee.

Added to that his family basically selling him off to Ned (She and Jonelle had seen the lawyer's letter with its fancy letterhead from some fancy solicitor giving Ned and Cat guardianship of Theon, along with an outline of a monthly stipend and trust fund for expenses. As far as they were concerned, Theon was damaged goods and cheaper to be sold off than taken care of. Jonelle hadn't left Theon's room that day while Lyanna and Ned had to be restrained by Brandon and Benjen) the poor boy was utterly wretched. It brought out her fierce instinct to protect and nurture, one of the reasons why she had joined the Navy and become a sapper and why she had fought tooth and nail to keep her daughter with her rather than take the easy way out and give her up. Once Lyanna Stark claimed you as her own, she didn't let anyone hurt you.

Theon had learned this in just a couple of weeks. After he had regained consciousness and was told of his injuries and new status as a Stark foster son, Lyanna and Jonelle Stark had started to appear regularly at his bedside. It surprised him that they took the time to visit him and not just automatically go to Robb's room like Cat Stark and Sansa tended to do. Ned Stark would drop in as well as Arya and the younger boys, but Jonelle and Lyanna were constants that he had gratefully clung onto.

(Even if it meant swallowing his envy at Jonelle's re-appearance in Robb's life. Despite Robb being utterly clueless, Theon had seen Jonelle as his rightful rival and had been pretty sure of a victory once she had faded from Robb’s day to day life. At least until the time up to and the accident itself. He hoped that when Robb woke up, he could explain everything and hope that Robb wouldn't look at him any differently. He desperately hoped.)

They cared about him and his well-being. More than his own family and Theon  (despite it paining him to admit it if anyone asked) had cried in gratitude. Lyanna had taken it stride and Jonelle had made the best of it, even though she had been fairly mortified at gingerly comforting him when she had been present and her mother away. She hadn't held it against him and he had been relieved that even with the past meeting behind them, that she could push past her initial dislike and hold his hand in both the metaphorical and literal sense.

“Well, that's something to look forward to. Any news on the leg?” Lyanna asked as she sat down on the chair beside his bed and started pulling out some activity books, coloured pencils, pencils and a sharpener for Theon to amuse himself with. As much as he liked movies and long series, he quickly tired out and occasionally forgot plot points and ended up frustrated with them. His doctors said it would pass with time, but did casually suggest that Theon would benefit more from activity books to sharpen his memory and concentration skills. Hence the books and supplies needed to use them.

Theon shook his head slowly, reaching out for the stained glass window colouring book and a clear blue pencil that Lyanna knew was the exact same shade of Robb's eyes. A shade that hadn't been dimmed despite the haziness from the concussion that Robb had woken up with. She didn't say anything as Theon selected a picture at random and carefully started filling in the space, but she made a note of it, since it gave her the last clue as to why Jonelle and Theon had given each other the side-eye when she had left them alone the first time that Theon was moved out of ICU.

They had brokered a truce, something she was glad of, since she needed Jonelle to be civil to Theon and Cat in the upcoming weeks. Something that she needed to address with Theon soon. She had told Ned and Jonelle, but was worried about Theon’s reaction since he had basically attached himself like a limpet to her.

She shouldn’t have been surprised that he had, though. They had built up a connection even before he had fully woken up, with Lyanna feeling oddly maternal over the boy in those fifteen minutes where she had first seen him. It had surprised both of them, and despite Lyanna expecting the feeling to fade as it had with most children not of her family, the feeling had strengthened to the point that Theon was as much her baby as Jonelle and the rest of the Stark brood were.

“Where. Is. Jon?” Theon asked, not looking up from his progress.

“She’s registering at Notre Dame High School at the moment.”

Theon paused in his work and looked up at Lyanna with wide eyes. Lyanna swallowed hard then and decided that this was probably the best time to bring up her departure.

“Jonelle is moving in with Ned, since she’s in second last year and looking at Universities here and also because I figured that you could use a friend when I’m not here. I have to go back to my regiment in Gibraltar. It will take a bit of time to apply for a base transfer and until then, Jonelle will stay here.”

Theon dropped his gaze, his hand clenching the pencil crayon tighter than he had before.

“You. Didn’t. Have. To.”

He ground out, his cheeks going pink with embarrassment at being seen as weak. As being so helpless that he was in the position of needing a babysitter. It rankled, despite privately admitting that Jonelle being around was actually one of the better things that had happened to him since he and Robb had seen _him_ and the accident that followed right after.

 “I know I didn’t, you stubborn git! Despite what you may think, your caustic charm has grown on me and my daughter. It’s not pity. Far from it. You’re part of my pack, whether you like it or not and we protect our own.”

“Why. Not. Ned’s. Pack?”

Theon mumbled, his fingers loosening their death grip on the coloured pencil.

Lyanna grinned.

“I claimed you first.”

If Theon could have, he would have whooped for joy.

As it was, all he could do was give her an odd grimace that Lyanna still found adorable.

~*~*~*~*~*

Robb knew it was Lyanna and not Jonelle entering the room by her perfume. He couldn’t lift his head from where he had buried it under the pillow to ease the migraine that had knocked him out for six earlier. Although both of them preferred citrusy and mild scents rather than the cloyingly sweet ones his sisters or mother favoured, there was a difference to their scents. Lyanna tended to have scents that reminded him of exotic places, rather than the sea-like scents Jonelle favoured. She was carrying a package that crackled as she set it on the bed by his hand and Robb wondered what exactly she could have brought him.

He hadn't seen her in almost a month, since she had to go back to her regiment and had left Jonelle behind to finish her education. The reasoning behind that was that she was probably going to choose to go to Sheffield University or to St. Andrew's and it would give her time to get used to life in the UK again. The other reason (the one that he and Theon had come to) was for Jonelle to keep an eye on Theon. Lyanna had become his defacto guardian without much hassle and Jonelle was her man on the ground, so to speak.

It made sense and Robb was actually pleased that someone else that wasn't him was going to take an active part in giving a damn about Theon. Although he recalled that Jonelle hadn't exactly seen eye to eye with Theon the last time that they had even seen each other, they seemed to have moved past that. Or so he guessed. He hadn't been privy to many of their encounters since he was too out of it before and now, he was dealing with headaches and migraines.

Although the concussion had cleared up, Robb still had spells of dizziness and migraines that would leave him gasping with pain and nausea. Those were the times when he could only lie in the darkened room grateful for the bottles of Gatorade and the cold compresses that Lyanna and Jonelle bathed his forehead and the back of his neck with. Lyanna would sing softly to him and card her hands through his hair. Jonelle would hum to him, her cold fingertips running through his sweaty curls, until the pain somewhat passed and he could sleep.

When he wasn’t in the throes of agony, Robb would always note how similar the techniques they used to get his mind off the migraines and headaches that the doctors told him would lessen as time went on. He was grateful that after three weeks in hospital, they were actually lessening. But when they came, they still took his breath away and left him incapacitated and then some.

He hated that they left him basically useless and unable to start the physiotherapy he needs to get back on his feet and out of the brace that is uncomfortable as all out. He knew that it was to help heal his back, but he hated being so restricted and so, so, so… _helpless._ He hated relying on people helping him to do the most basic of things and he hated that they didn't know if he was going to be a hundred percent after everything was said and done.

The doctors assured him he would be fine. Maybe take it easy for a few years, but they saw him being a hundred percent. The surgery had gone well. It was just the months of healing that would determine how fast their predictions were going to happen.

For Robb, it was fine. He could accept the prognosis whenever his head wasn't hurting and he wasn't sitting next to a pale Theon, who was still reeling over the reason for the accident and the fact that he was now missing a leg. It was during days like those that he couldn't hack the weight of uncertainty. He also knew he couldn't bring it up to Theon. Not when his best friend was coping with being abandoned and being disabled in one fell swoop. He wasn't a prick to force Theon to push his own issues away while Robb snivelled over his own impatience.

Robb just wasn't sure how to go about it and thanked his lucky stars that Lyanna and Jonelle were there to serve a buffer and support for both of them. His dad was great, but he was a very silent and private man who didn't really talk about his feelings. His mother was the opposite and Robb was starting to get a bit overwhelmed and smothered whenever she was around. He loved his mother, but her constant babying of him and the darkly malicious comments she made about Theon were starting to fray his nerves something awful.

That was the last thing that Theon needed. He knew that he had fucked up with Ramsay. He didn't need anyone else to tell him that getting involved with Ramsay Bolton had been a mistake. He had known that the first time that Ramsay had smashed his head against the bedroom wall for some minor slight. Had known it when Ramsay had tried to isolate Theon from his friends. All except Robb, who Theon had stubbornly clung to.

Something that had, Robb now reflected, probably saved Theon's life.

Even if it was a major complication in both their lives at the moment.

Robb wouldn't hold it against him, though. Not in a million years. Even if he was stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He wouldn't ever get mad at Theon.

So that was why he took in a deep breath and willed himself to not whinge when a cool and calloused hand pressed itself over his forehead and eased some of the pressure of the ache.  She kept her hand there for a bit before the pillow was removed and both her hand and pillow replaced by a cold compress. A straw poked his lips and and he sucked down the ice cold Gatorade quickly. It was some blandish berry flavour, but in his state, it tasted like nectar of the gods.

He nearly whinged when it was taken away. He was still very thirsty.

“You'll get more after you swallow these. Just got your next dose from the nurse.”

His aunt told him, her voice a low murmur as she gave him the information.

Robb cracked an eye and was pathetically grateful that no light seared his brain when he did so. He took the pills and popped them shakily into his mouth. He swallowed them dry and his aunt pressed the drink onto him again. He drained as much as he could stomach and lay back, dozing slightly as his aunt changed the compress and hummed some song that sounded familiar. A long ago echo of something that his dad probably had on in the shop or something.

The familiarity of it made him go loose limbed and into a deep sleep that had him being more human when he finally blinked his eyes open to see his aunt in her workaday uniform and Jonelle in a uniform that he recognized as belonging to Notre Dame High School. His eyes narrowed as he took in the outfit and his heart beat somewhat erratically when he again saw the proof that Jonelle wasn't leaving anytime soon.

He must have made some sort of noise, since both Jonelle and her mother looked up from the hushed conversation that they were having and smiled at him.  Lyanna more or less smirked and it made him laugh softly. His head was tender, but the pain was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief and pressed the button on his bed to raise it so that he wasn't looking up at his cousin and aunt.

“I'm glad you're feeling better, Robb.”  Lyanna told him as Jonelle looked at him sympathetically.

“Me too. How was school, Jonny?”

Jonelle wrinkled her nose at the old nickname.

“Hahah, Bobby. School was the usual. Your sister is an idiot and your fanclub asked me to give you this. I already dropped off Theon's cards. Poor bastard. No one should have to pay for such a shite mistake.”

Jonelle replied as she reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a stack of cards that made Robb blink. He had no idea that people would actually care or miss him. He didn't seek out popularity and he tried to be a good man as his father had always drilled into him ever since he was a kid. So to see all of the cards in Jonelle's hands made him kind of get a bit emotional.

“Can you put them in the drawer there? I'll...I'll look at them later.”

Something sparked in her eyes that he couldn't pin down, but she did as he asked and looked at her mother as a simple excuse to give him some time to compose himself.

“Have you seen Theon recently?”

Robb exhaled and shook his head. He didn't trust his voice just yet.

“Not yet. I've been having bad headaches lately. Have you too seen him?”

Robb asked, looking at them hopefully.

“He's getting counselling, so he's not as messed up over his leg being gone and the number that arsehole did on him.”

Robb's eyebrows rose so high that they were nearly into his hairline.

“He's talking about Ramsay?”

Jonelle and Lyanna exchanged a look and Lyanna's mouth tightened.

“He didn't want to at first, but when they were working on him, they found all the signs and we had to do some work to convince him that it wasn't his fault and that it would help him if we knew.”

Jonelle bit her lip and her eyes went a dark grey that he recognized as banked rage from when he had seen it in his father's face, Arya's face and now, Jonelle and Lyanna.

“He was messed up pretty badly by Bolton, but he hid it. No one knew until...”

Robb frowned then as he tried to figure out when he had found out the exact depravity of Ramsay Bolton and the damage that he had caused Theon, both physical, mental and emotional.  He forced himself to comb through the disjointed memories and he was just coming with blanks. He couldn't even recall _why_ the accident itself had happened. The only memories he had were of frantically driving, with Theon in silent hysterics, a large SUV behind them and then...

“I don't remember.”

He whispered as he looked at the silently worried women in front of him.

“I can't remember.”

Jonelle was the first to react and in seconds, she was wrapping her arms around him, engulfiing him in her arms. She smelled like the sea and the uniform fabric was stiff, but he wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. She was warm and _safe_ and that was all he needed as he fought to overcome the horror of knowing that his mind was betraying him.

He clung to her, not being aware of anything else but how her fingers felt as they combed through his hair and the soothing sound of her voice until he was again slipping out of awareness and back into the blackness that had become his friend yet again.

~*~*~*~*~

“Are you still questioning why you had to be here, Jonelle?”

Lyanna asked her daughter as they sat in a coffee shop close, but not too close to the hospital where they had left Robb and Theon as well as they could for the time being.

“No. They're...They're both really in need of friends at the moment.”

Jonelle made a face. “Even Robb. Uncle Ned's lovely, but he's not the most effusive of men. Aunt Cat will just smother him and the little ones are just scared and bewildered. Theon's our responsibility now. Uncle Benjen's in the North Sea and Uncle Brandon...Yeah. No. I get it. I'm still annoyed, but I get it.”

Lyanna rubbed her temples and smoothed back the loose tendrils that had escaped the tight bun she kept her hair in.

“I know. It's a mess. Especially since Theon isn't saying anything about that night and Robb's memory's fucked. At least we won't have to deal with anyone laying charges.”

Jonelle looked up with wide eyes at that.

“What? Why would anyone be laying charges?”

Lyanna sighed and tapped her long, scarred fingers on the top of the table. A gesture from years ago when she used to smoke and was dying for a hit of nicotine to ease her nerves as she went through a hard conversation.

“Bolton's father was making some noises about laying charges, since his son died in the accident. He backed down when Ned showed up with Greyjoy bought lawyers and the forensics report. Ramsay was drunk as all out and driving recklessly and he was hell bent on chasing Robb and Theon. In fact, he could have very well killed them. Once that was known, Bolton shut up and disappeared pretty quickly.”

She rubbed the table-top, squinting at the shininess of it while Jonelle watched her do it.

“What kind of a fucked up vendetta did Ramsay have against Theon and Robb that he wanted to kill them? Not to mention why the hell would Robb even a target?”

Lyanna grimaced at that.

“Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet.”

Jonelle looked puzzled for a few seconds before she let out a small bark of laughter.

“Oh. Seriously? I knew that since the last time we came to visit. I'd have been more shocked if Robb reciprocated the feelings. As far as I can see, both are too damned messed up to even be thinking about that at the moment.”

Lyanna waved her hand vaguely before humming an agreement at that.

“But they will, sooner or later. And what will you do then?”

Jonelle bit her lip, but shrugged the question off.

“Nothing. Robb isn't mine to claim. If he loves Theon, it would be a shit move for me to step in and try to get between them. A kiss at twelve isn't a promise.”

Jonelle pointed out, making her mother laugh at that.

“But if it is? What will you do?”

“Mum, I know you mean well, but it's too early to think about that. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it and leave it as such. After all, it's not like that bridge will need to be crossed anytime soon.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jonelle was trying to concentrate on her work, but the way that Robb was staring at her was making her lose focus on the biology problems she was reading. She was sure that she had read the exact same passage about four times already and it was starting to irritate her. Especially since every time she did look up from her book, Robb would pretend to be engrossed in _his_ own book. Something she knew was a blatant lie and a half, since he hadn't turned the page in about twenty minutes either and she knew that was _not_ because of the concussion, which had completely cleared up.

“Robb...In all honesty, what is your problem? You've been staring at me for ages and I know you're not reading. So what in the bloody hell is it, man?”

She looked up in time to see his face turn almost as red as his hair and his mouth open and close as he tried to fish for an excuse for his behaviour.

She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands briskly before she slammed her books shut and focused all of her attention onto him. She wasn't usually patient, but she could see that if she snapped at her cousin, he would just hide and not be forthcoming with whatever it was that was making him act like a weirdo.

She hoped it wasn't a relapse of simply him being obtuse about his doctor's advice for his condition. She knew he hated wearing the back brace, but he also knew that it was better that he did, since he had already started to walk again a month after being transferred to the rehab wing. His arm was gaining strength and the tentative date of four weeks until he went home was going to become a reality.

“It's stupid.”

He mumbled, making her raise an eyebrow.

“Robb...You can tell me anything, you know that, right? I'm not going to judge. You have picked up on that, I hope, after all this time and all the conversations we've had?”

Robb's face went slightly pink as he turned his head and chewed on his lip as he tried to either find the words or marshal the courage to actually say anything to her.

Jonelle, for her part, had to force herself to remain as calm as possible, since she had a pretty good guess as to what Robb was going to tell her. She had forced herself to not get her hopes up, but it was hard not to in the last couple of months. Even her uncle Benjen had noticed that Robb was certainly warmer and more tactile with her.

At first, she had just assumed, like everyone else that it had been the brush with death and the after effects that he had to cope with. Theon had been the same, so she didn't put that much stock into it. It wasn't until her aunt Catelyn gave her a look of pure poison at how close she and Robb had been sitting on the love seat that she started to realize that it was much more than that.

His next words would tell her what she already suspected: Robb had feelings for her. Just like he had feelings for Theon.

Just like she did.

Which was something she hadn't seen coming, since she thought that the old dislike and then the familial feelings she had for him would stay as they were. But that wasn't the case when she caught him looking at her with the same unguarded softness that she knew he looked at Robb with.

If they played their cards right, she knew that they could make it work. But they had to be careful. That was why she hadn't prodded Robb and patiently waited for him to speak.

“Jon...Jon...I think I love you. Like I love Theon.”

Jonelle felt as if she had been punched. Even though she had expected him to say those words, it still felt like she had just gotten winded. She hadn't ever really hoped to hear them. Not since Theon had shown up. She had expected it to be just a childhood crush and they would move on.

But the accident had changed all of that and she felt the old feelings burst forth like a flood.

So even though she had wanted to be careful with Robb, she couldn't _quite_ control herself as she she launched towards him.

“Jon? You...Oh!”

~*~*~*~*~

Theon hands were in his lap, the fingers intertwined with each other as he tried to figure out how to shape the words that seemed to get stuck in his throat, something that shouldn't have been happening. He knew Jonelle now like he knew Robb. Had talked to her for more than half a year as he got his head screwed on properly and his life back in order.  Had relied on her and her mother as he got through all of the hardships that had sprung up since he had turned seventeen.

There shouldn't have been a barrier between them. He shouldn't have been as nervous was he was, sitting on his bed in the rehab centre while waiting for her and Robb to pick him up.  Yet there was and he knew that part of the reason was that he had fallen for her as much as he had fallen for Robb.

Theon swallowed hard as he clenched his hands tighter as he thought about how he was going to approach the situation. Especially since he had so much to lose now. It wasn't just her friendship that she'd lose, but the familial closeness. Or worse, he would lose not just her, but Robb as well.

Robb, who had luckily bounced back faster than he had and Theon knew, without anyone telling him that the simmering tension between the two cousins had reached some kind of resolution. What sort, he couldn't tell, since they had been able to act like they normally did around him when he had seen them. Which was almost nearly every day since they had been released from the hospital.

She had been there beside Robb as they both had encouraged him whenever he found physiotherapy a pain in his ass. They had been his cheerleaders when he had mastered walking on a prosthetic and when he got back in some semblance of health. They both had seen him at his worst and had smiled when they had seen him on his own two feet, smiling without holding back. Something that he hadn't done since he had met Ramsay.

He breathed deeply as he thought about them, rather than Ramsay. His ex-had already left an indelible mark on his soul. He didn't need to keep thinking about all the humiliation and agony that man had brought him.

 _“Still kept bringing him.”_   His mind whispered as he looked down at his legs. 

No one could really tell his leg was missing when he was wearing trousers. It was only when he moved a certain way that the metal structure would show and he'd see that flash of pity on the person's face that quickly disappeared. Or if he was tired and his gait wasn't as smooth as it should have been. If it hadn't been for Ramsay flipping the fuck out when Robb grabbed him and his stuff, they wouldn't have gotten into the accident. He wouldn't have had a wired jaw for months and he wouldn't have been in constant pain until his leg was finally gone.

He winced as his grip got too tight and loosened his hands, putting them on his thighs instead. He rubbed the material and bit his lip as he thought about Robb. His cheeks pinked as he remembered the way that he had come in, fearless as all out, and grabbed him and his bag from that stinking pit Ramsay called a flat.

“You're my best friend, Theon. I'm not letting you spend another moment with that right bastard. I've got the car out there. Grab your stuff. No. You know what? Leave it. Let's go!”

Theon only had nodded, his movements somewhat hampered by the cracked ribs Ramsay had given him earlier as he only grabbed the things that meant the most to him before they flew out of there. They had made it to the street when Ramsay had arrived and started screaming at them.

Theon had frozen and even now, his cheeks burned when he recalled how like a scared rabbit he had been. He probably would have stood there and watched his doom come to him if Robb hadn't gone and grabbed him.

“Let's go!”

He had shouted as he pulled Theon into the car, locked the doors and windows and sped off into the night, with Ramsay chasing them and pressing onto them until they had reached the hairpin turn and...

He shut his eyes. He didn't want to remember the abject horror that had coursed over him when Robb frantically tried to bring the car under control and it spun wildly until it flipped and then...He was tasting blood, his mouth and face a mess and his legs numb with medication. Lyanna was beside him and then Jonelle and then...

“Hey, Theon. You ready?”

His eyes snapped open to find Jonelle and Robb standing in front of him. Jonelle already had his bag in her hand while Robb held his out to him.

“Y-y-yeah.”

He stuttered out, his cheeks going pink as he took Robb's hand and heaved himself to his feet.

Robb smiled and Jonelle patted his shoulder, both actions making his heart stutter and his face flush darker.

“You alright, mate?”

Jonelle asked, her hand moving from his shoulder to his forehead to test if he had a fever or something.

Her hand was cool on his forehead and he willed himself to calm down at her touch before he managed to mumble out that he was fine. Her eyes flickered in concern, but she nodded and let her hand drop.

“If you say so. Now don't you think we've spent enough time here? Come on, we want to treat you. Let's go.”

~*~*~*~*~

They waited until Theon excused himself to go to the bathroom before Jonelle fixed her gaze on Robb, who squirmed in his seat. He was going to have to stand up and walk around soon before his back started to bother him and he wasn't keen on that happening and ruining what he and Jonelle had planned for that night.

“Should we just tell him how we feel about him? Or do we keep on waiting for him to tell us how he feels?”

Robb grimaced as he stood up stiffly, the brace hampering his movements and making him feel like he was at least a hundred years old or something.

“Give him time, Jon. He needs to have that much agency, or else we'd be as bad as Ramsay.”

Jonelle's face went white at that and her hand tightened on the crumpled napkin she held.

“No. I never want to do that to him. Fuck that. I just don't want him thinking that we're going to shut him out, you know? He's gone through so much already and I just want him to know that we want to share it all with him.”

Robb smiled and went over to Jonelle, wrapping his arms loosely around her shoulders before planting a light kiss on her forehead. They both would have liked to stay like that, but they knew that if Theon saw them, he would probably get the wrong idea and shut down completely.

And that was the last thing that they ever wanted to do to him. So Robb let her go and walked around in a low circle until he saw Theon emerging from the bathrooms and moving towards their table with a purposeful stride and his mouth a taut line of determination.

Robb opened his mouth to ask if he was alright, but he didn't get the chance to do that, since Theon simply marched up to him, grabbed his head and kissed him.

Jonelle stood up, her lips curving into a smile as she saw them kiss. It was inelegant, sloppy and with too much teeth. But it didn't matter. Not when she could see how much desire and want and joy there was behind it. She didn't have time to say or do anything, since Theon pulled away from a stunned Robb and did the same to her, letting her taste the mint and strawberries of their deserts.

She closed her eyes as Theon explored her mouth, his lips cold and wet and so damned soft. It was a first love's kiss and she found herself blinking at him when they finally separated.

They don't speak and just look at each other. Jonelle with tenderness, Theon with a nervous defiance and Robb with an unguarded love for both of them.

Theon moves first and he only does so that he can intertwine his fingers into each of their hands.

“Come on. Let's get the check and let's go.”

~*~*~*~*

Jonelle felt like was in heaven as Robb held her thighs wide open as he thrust his tongue into her, fucking her with along with two fingers. She let out a stuttering moan as Theon sucked on her left nipple, his tongue licking wet circles around it. She squeezed his cock, sliding her hand up and down the shaft and switching her grip so that the head was in her palm and she could push the foreskin down with her lubed up fingers. Theon groaned and he pulled his mouth away, his eyebrows drawing together as she worked his shaft, her hand switching often to his balls and to the soft skin behind them. She squeaked as Robb went in far, curling his finger up to touch that little spot of roughened skin while he sucked on her clit.

At that, her hips bucked and her fingers pressed hard on the seam of Theon's soft skin, making him let out a loud gasp before spunk was shooting all over her hand.  He slid to the floor, boneless for a few moments before crawling over to Robb.

Jonelle wondered exactly what he was doing until she heard Robb hiss and his licking become erratic. Ah. So that was what Theon was doing.

Robb became erratic, but Jonelle didn't mind. She was so damned close. She could feel the orgasm building up with each suck and each thrust of his fingers, the juddering and unpredictable movements getting her closer, closer, closer until...

Her vision went white and blank as she came, Robb's answering shout a low blip in her bliss.

She was languid with it, not moving even as Theon and Robb crawled up to the bed and curled up around her, sticky and sated and _loved._

That was her last thought before someone grabbed the duvet and they all fell asleep.

END


End file.
